Standards for belt conveyors



Oct. 1, 1963 J. B. LoNG STANDARDS FOR BELT CONVEYORS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 12, 1958 mm mN c. l, 1963 J. B. LoNG STANDARDS FOR BELT coNvEYoRs 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 12. 1958 F iG. 5

INVETOR John B. Long i@ ATTORNEYJ United Statesv Patent O 3,195,588 STANDARDS FR BELT CONVEYRS John B. Long, Oak Hill, W. Va., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Marmon-Herrington Company, Inc., Indianapolis, lud., a corporation of indiana Filed Mar. 12, 1953, Ser. No. 721,063 2 Claims. (Cl. 19S-l92) This invention relates generally to belt conveyors of the type in which the load bearing stretch of the belt is supported upon conveyor roller units that are in turn supporte-d upon spaced ilexible strands of -wire or rope, and more particularly to standards for supporting such ilexible strands.

In the provision of belt conveyors for transporting material of various sizes for substantial distances, such las for instance in the conveying of coal within a coal mine, it has been found preferable to provide a belt conveyor in which the conveying roller units of the load bearing stretch of the belt are supported upon spaced ilexible strands of wire or rope mounted upon a plurality of -lloor supported standards intermediate the length of the flexible strands. As it is customary to mount the conveying roller units upon the exible strands at points intermediate the points at which the lexible strands are supported by the standards, it has been found that as a load travels the length of the belt and passes over the conveying roller units the flexible strands are caused to ilex downwardly, and as the standards are lixedly secured to the exible strands they are caused to cant in the direction of ilexure of the strands. As the conventional belt conveyor is non-uniformly loaded, having placed thereon loads of varying weight, there will thus be continuous flexure of the strands and canting of the standards. The diiliculty in providing a standard having a base that will not tilt, and thereby shift its position, has been recognized in the art, and several solutions have been forthcoming, such as providing the standard with a convex base so that the standard will rock thereupon in conjunction with the flexure of the strands, however, this has been found to be unsatisfactory, because the standards have a tendency to rock themselves out of position.

The primary object of this invention is the provision of standards for supporting the flexible strands of wire or rope of strand supported belt conveyors, wherein the standard is provided with an upright strand supporting portion that is pivotally secured to the base portion of the standard, so that as the load supponting strands are ilexed the upright portion of the standard will can-t in the direction of flexure, with the base or" the standard maintaining a fixed position upon the iloor, thus preventing tipping and walking of the standard, with respect to the floor, that might result in throwing the flexible strands out of line.

A further object is the provision of standards for supporting the flexible strands of wire or rope of strand supported belt conveyors wherein the base of the standard may be fastened securely in place upon the Hoor and the upright strand supporting portion of the standard will still be permitted to cant in the direction of flexure of the strands as the load passes therealong.

A further object is the provision of standards for supporting the flexible strands of wire or rope of strand supported belt conveyors wherein the support portions of the standards, to which the strands are secured, can be placed in an upright position, even though the base thereof rests upon uneven terrain.

A further object is the provision of standards for supporting the Illexible strands of Wire or rope of strand supported belt conveyors wherein the base of the standard Edd-5,5% watented @et l, 1963 can be made appreciably shorter than has previously been found necessary, as .there is no necessity to resist the tendency of the standard to tip over as the upright portion thereof is canted in Iaccordance with the tlexure of the strands.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent during the course of the `following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a portion of this speciiication and in which drawings:

FIG. l is a side view of a length of a belt conveyor' supported upon standards that are constructed according to my invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view similar to FlG. l but showing a non-uniform load being transported by the belt, `ilexing the strands and causing the upright portion of the standards to cant in the direction yof flexure.

FIG. 3 is a View similar to iFlG. 2, but showing the nonuniform load transported to a diiferent position by the belt.

IFIG. 4 is an enlanged transvense sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of FIG. l.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side elevation, partly in section, of my improved standard.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of a conveying roller unit of the belt conveyor.

iFIG. 7 is a transverse sectional View Itaken substantially on the line 7-7 of FIG. 5.

PG. 8 is a View showing merely the upright portion and base of my improved standard, illustrating the canting of the upright portion.

IFIG. 9 is a side elevation of a conventional standard having the base thereof rigidly secured to the upright portion.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a pneferred form of the invention, and wherein similar reference characters )designate corresponding pants throughout the several views, the letter A designates generally my improved standard; B spaced flexible strands or cables of wire or rope, mounted upon the standard A; and `C conveying roller u-nits or conveying idler assemblies mounted upon the ilexible strands or cables B.

The standards A preferably comprise a pair of upright tubular side members lll' and ll secured together in spaced relation by a cross bar l2 and are each provided with diametrically opposed cut-away portions l5 open to their uppermost edge, providing a recess wit-hin which the flexible strands or cables B may t. Each of the side members lli and ll is provided with a threaded boss i7, at their uppermost side edge, through which locking members i8 may be inserted and tightened against the length of the ilexible strands or cables B lying within the cut-away portions l5, securely holding :the ilexible strands or cables B in position with respect to .the side members lll and l1. Secured to one side of members l@ and ll are return roller mounting struts or brackets 19 and itl which receive the hexagonal bearing structures 22 of the return roller 24.

The side members 10 and 11 are each preferably relatively short lengths of cylindrical, hollow pipe, each deining a chamber 25, which receives a column member 27 pivotally secured to a base 2x9. A stop 3@ may be secured to each of the column members 27 adjacent their lowermost edges above its base 29, so that the side members lil and 1v1 will not slide down the column members and into contact with their bases Z9. A set screw 32 may be mounted upon each of the side members l0 and 1l, projecting therethrough into contact with its column member 27, so that the position of Ithe side members lll and 11 fwith respect to the column members 27 may be adjusted, permitting the overall height of the standard to be regulated.

Each base 29 may preferably comprise a substantially U-shaped member having a a-ttened lowermost portion 34, side portions 35 and 3e, and end portions 3S and 3'9 extending outwardly, substantially parallel to the ilexible strands B. Each column member 27 is provided with an opening 40, adjacent the lowermost portion thereof, into which a hollow bushing 42, is tted, the bushing extending through and slightly beyond the side edges of the column member 27, fitting between the upright side portions 35 and 36 of the base 29, and receiving a pivot 43 that pass through an opening 46 provided in the upright side portion 36, through the bushing 4Z, and through an opening 47 provided in the side portion 35; the side portion 49 of the rivet then being swaged, Ithus pivotally securing each column member 27 to its base 29.

l have found that if I make the side members l@ and 11 of 1% inch pipe, each drilled to receive 1li/1G inch outer diameter mechanical seamlesstubing 27, cut to length to lit inside of the members l@ and 1l, and press tted into the drilled 11/2 inch pipe, with a rivet 5/s inch in diameter being placed through the bushing and swaged to retain it in position, a clearance between the rivet and the bushing being provided of approximately .O17 inch, that the swaging will lock the rivet against rotation in the base, allowing all pivotal movement to take place between the rivet and the internal diameter of the bushing.

It will be seen from looking at FIG. 9 that the old type standard, having an upright side member t) rigidly secured to a base 5l, will not permit canting of the standard in accordance with ilexure of the rope without rocking of the base 5l upon the loor. As shot/vn in FlG. 8, my improved standard A permits canting of the side members l@ and l1 with respect to the base 29, the base Z9 remaining in a fixed position upon the ground. In conventional use the standards will normally cant a distance X as shown in FIG. 5. Bolts, or other iioor securing devices (not shown) may be inserted through the llattened bottom portion 34 of the base 29, at the outer extensions 395 and 39, securely holding the base 29 in a xed position upon the tloor, however, these are not necessary, as any canting of the members lil and 11 will be taken care of by pivotal movement of the side members l@ and 11 with respect to the base 29, however, it will be noted that if the base 29 is securely affixed to the ground that the side members itl and 11 may still cant according to the flexure of the strands.

I have shown the iiexible strands or cables B as comprising a pair of parallel cables 55 and 56 respectively supported upon the side members 1t? and 1l. These cables parallel each other for a distance slightly greater than the length of the load bearing stretch of the belt 57 and are secured at their terminus to an eye which is irmly secured in place to the lloor as is well known in the art.

The conveying roller units or roll idler spreader assemblies C preferably comprise cable receiving side brackets 6G and 61 that are somewhat in lthe shape or" a ilattened C, tor receiving therein the cables 45 and d6, respectively, secured therein by means of the threaded locking members 63:v and 64. A cross bar 65 is provided connecting the side brackets di) and 6l and supporting the angular side rollers 66 and 67 to one side thereof and a central roller 61S to the other side thereof.

These conveying roller units and the mounting thereof upon the exible strands is more fully disclosed and described in copending patent application Serial No. 700,

444, filed December 9, 1957, Patent No. 2,896,774, of

l have shown the load 7@ as moving still fur-ther along l' the belt, to between the second and third standards, causing the second standard Ito change its direction of cant-V ing from one in a direction opposite the direction yof movement of the belt to one toward themovement of the belt, the third standard being canted to a greater angle than was shown in FIG. 2, and the iirst standard returning to a nearly vertical position as the load becomes more remote therefrom.

The belt may be moved by any conventional driving arrangement well known in the art.'

Various changes may be made to the form of the` invention herein shown and described Without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l. ln a conveyor the combination of a plurality of standards each of said standards including a pair of bases,

a rst pair of tubular members, pivot means for pivotally securing each of Asaid tubular members to one of said bases, a pair of tubular side members, each of said tubular side members delining a chamber within which is telescopically and slidably received one of said tubular members, positioning means for iixedly securing each of. said tubular side members at a predetermined telescopic extension with respect to its received tubular member, an elongated rigid cross bar having a tubular side member secured to each opposite end thereof, said cross bar providing a brace for rigidly maintaining said tubular side :embers in a predetermined spaced apart relation, bracket means mounted upon each of said tubular side members, an idler' roller mounted upon said bracket means and extending parallel to said cross brace from one of said tubular side members to the other, fastening means mounted upon each of said tubular side members at the end thereof opposite to that telescopically receiving its respective tubular member; a pair of lexible strands, said tiexible strands extending normal to said cross brace in a spaced apart rela-tion, with each of said flexible strands being secured to one of said tubular side members by its respective fastening means; and a plurality of conveying roller units mounted upon said llexible strands, each of said conveying roller units including a pair of side brackets, lock means for securing each of said side brackets to one of said liexible strands, an elongated cross bar of substantially the same length as said rst mentioned cross bar having a side bracket secured to each opposite end thereof, said last mentioned cross bar providing a brace for rigidly maintaining said side brackets in a predetermined spaced apart relation, and idler rollers mounted upon said last mentioned cross brace in juxtaposition tor receiving the conveying reach of a conveyor belt, said conveying roller units being mounted upon said ilexible strands intermediate and spaced from the interconnection oi said standards to said flexible strands, said pivot means of said standards providing for canting of said standards as said rlexible strands yield under load irnpact upon said conveying roller units, said first and last mentioned cross bars cooperating to maintain said iiexible strands in a predetermined spaced apart relation dur-V ing flexing thereof and the movement of a load along said conveying roller units.

2. ln a conveyor the combination of a plurality of standards each of said standards including a pair of bases, alrst pair of tubular mem-bers, pivot means for pivotaily securing each of said tubular members to one of said bases, a pair of tubular side members, each of said tubular side members detining a chamber Within which is telescopically and slidably received one of said tubular members, positioning means for iixedly securing each of said tubular side members at la predetermined telescopic extension with respect to its received tubular member, stop means mounted upon each of said tubular members yadjacent the pivotal interconnection therewith of said base means, said stop means being positioned so that each of said tubular side members can be telescopically lowered upon its respective tubular member to -a position adj-acent said base means and yet limiting the movement of said tubular side members downward upon said tubular -members so that said tubular side members Wil'l at fall times be disposed above s-aid base means a suioient distance to permit free `canting of said tubular members and said tubular side members 'with respect to said base means, an elongated rigid cross bar having a tubular side mem bei` secured to each opposite end thereof, said cross bar providing a brace for rigidly maintaining said tubular side members in a predetermined spaced apart relation, bracket means mounted upon each of said tubular inembers, an idler roller mounted upon said bracket means and extending parallel to said cross brace `from one of said tubular side members to the other, fastening means mounted upon each `ot said tubular side members at the end thereof opposite to that telescopically receiving its respective tubular member; a pair of flexible strands, said exible strands extending normal to said cross brace in a spaced apart relation, with each of said exible strands being secured to one of said tubular side members by its respective fastening means; and ya plurality of conveying roller units mounted upon said exiblle strands, each of said conveying roller units including a pair of side brackets, lock means for securing each of said side brackets to one of said `tlexible strands, an elongated cross bar of substantially the same length as said first mentioned cross bar having a side bracket secured to each opposite end thereof, said last mentioned cross bar providing a brace for rigidly maintaining said side brackets in a predetermined spaced apait relation, and idler rollers mounted upon said last mentioned cross brace in juxtaposition for receiving the conveying reach of a conveyor belt, said conveying roller units Ibeing mounted upon said lilexible strands intermediate and spaced from the interconnection of said standards to said flexible strands, said pivot means of said standards providing for canting of said standards as said ilexible strands yield under load impact upon said conveying roller units, said iirst Iand last mentioned cross bars cooperating to maintain said ilexible strands in a predetermined spaced apart relation during flexing thereof and the movement off a load along said conveying roller units.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 860,736 Davy et al July 23, 1907 1,313,357 Watkins Aug. 19, 1919 1,693,344 Morgan Nov. 27, 1928 2,622,447 Murphy Dec. 23, 1952 2,773,257 Craggs etal Dec. 4, 1956 2,805,763 McCallum Sept. 10, 1957 2,896,774 Lon-g et al July 28, 1959 2,921,668 Risse Ian. 19, 1960 2,951,580 Slorner Sept. 6, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 27,923 Germany July 22, 1884 

1. IN A CONVEYOR THE COMBINATION OF A PLURALITY OF STANDARDS EACH OF SAID STANDARDS INCLUDING A PAIR OF BASES, A FIRST PAIR OF TUBULAR MEMBERS, PIVOT MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY SECURING EACH OF SAID TUBULAR MEMBERS TO ONE OF SAID BASES, A PAIR OF TUBULAR SIDE MEMBERS, EACH OF SAID TUBULAR SIDE MEMBERS DEFINING A CHAMBER WITHIN WHICH IS TELESCOPICALLY AND SLIDABLY RECEIVED ONE OF SAID TUBULAR MEMBERS, POSITIONING MEANS FOR FIXEDLY SECURING EACH OF SAID TUBULAR SIDE MEMBERS AT A PREDETERMINED TELESCOPIC EXTENSION WITH RESPECT TO ITS RECEIVED TUBULAR MEMBER, AN ELONGATED RIGID CROSS BAR HAVING A TUBULAR SIDE MEMBER SECURED TO EACH OPPOSITE END THEREOF, SAID CROSS BAR PROVIDING A BRACE FOR RIGIDLY MAINTAINING SAID TUBULAR SIDE MEMBERS IN A PREDETERMINED SPACED APART RELATION, BRACKET MEANS MOUNTED UPON EACH OF SAID TUBULAR SIDE MEMBERS, AN IDLER ROLLER MOUNTED UPON SAID BRACKET MEANS AND EXTENDING PARALLEL TO SAID CROSS BRACE FROM ONE OF SAID TUBULAR SIDE MEMBERS TO THE OTHER, FASTENING MEANS MOUNTED UPON EACH OF SAID TUBULAR SIDE MEMBERS AT THE END THEREOF OPPOSITE TO THAT TELESCOPICALLY RECEIVING ITS RESPECTIVE TUBULAR MEMBER; A PAIR OF FLEXIBLE STRANDS, SAID FLEXIBLE STRANDS EXTENDING NORMAL TO SAID CROSS BRACE IN A SPACED APART RELATION, WITH EACH OF SAID FLEXIBLE STRANDS BEING SECURED TO ONE OF SAID TUBULAR SIDE MEMBERS BY ITS RESPECTIVE FASTENING MEANS; AND A PLURALITY OF CONVEYING ROLLER UNITS MOUNTED UPON SAID FLEXIBLE STRANDS, EACH OF SAID CONVEYING ROLLER UNITS INCLUDING A PAIR OF SIDE BRACKETS, LOCK MEANS FOR SECURING EACH OF SAID SIDE BRACKETS TO ONE OF SAID FLEXIBLE STRANDS, AN ELONGATED CROSS BAR SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME LENGTH AS SAID FIRST MENTIONED CROSS BAR HAVING A SIDE BRACKET SECURED TO EACH OPPSITE END THEREOF, SAID LAST MENTIONED CROSS BAR PROVIDING A BRACE FRO RIGIDLY MAINTAINING SAID SIDE BRACKETS IN A PREDETERMINED SPACED APART RELATION, AND IDLER ROLLERS MOUNTED UPON SAID LAST MENTIONED CROSS BRACE IN JUXTAPOSITION FOR RECEIVING THE CONVEYING REACH OF A CONVEYOR BELT, SAID CONVEYING ROLLER UNITS BEING MOUNTED UPON SAID FLEXIBLE STRANDS INTERMEDIATE AND SPACED FROM THE INTERCONNECTION OF SAID STANDARDS TO SAID FLEXIBLE STRANDS, SAID PIVOT MEANS OF SAID STANDARDS PROVIDING FOR CANTING OF SAID STANDARDS AS SAID FLEXIBLE STRANDS YIELD UNDER LOAD IMPACT UPON SAID CONVEYING ROLLER UNITS, SAID FIRST AND LAST MENTIONED CROSS BARS COOPERATING TO MAINTAIN SAID FLEXIBLE STRANDS IN A PREDETERMINED SPACED APART RELATION DURING FLEXING THEREOF AND THE MOVEMENT OF A LOAD ALONG SAID CONVEYING ROLLER UNITS. 